Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1887-08-06
cLEvE1AND's CoNcE1T.
Predictions as to Els Western Trlr
Abusing Randall.

Oo W. AA4o
Abusing Randall.
Special Correspondence of the I~NTEa.OcEAN.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 1-"There is but
one nan in the world who can go
swinging around the CIRCLE says Sena.
tor Hawley in a letter received here to-
day, "who can make speeches to the
people of the United States, who can be
always to say the right thing at
exactly the right time, and that is James
e. Blaine. Even he, however, cannot
be insured against having some ASS say
the wrong thing to him, as was done in
1884.
The senator utters a truism which is
generally accepted rs good sense by all
who have had any experience in poll
tics. 1t is to be feared by all of his
friends that Grover Cleveland is going
to open his mouth and "put his foot in
it" during his swing around the circle.
Even John Sherman, shrewd and care
full politician, made an almost fatal
blunder before he completed his recent
circle of campaign travel. Cleveland is
much less a man than Sherman, and
more likely to kill himself with his i'm.
mense jaw. Major Clarke, Of the New
York Tribune, c%onversing upon this
subject said "Besides his lack of
knowledge, besides his lack of exper-
fence, besides his lack of statesmanlike
judgment, Grover Cleveland is an in.
tensely self-conceitd man. He regards
himself as one of the most able men
the world has aver produced. He be-
lieves himself to be a good writer, and a
splendid speaker. He is naturally both.
He has a good command ofthe pen, and
he makes a very good speach, Of a care
full, plodding methodical kind. But in
these two facts, and in them alone, can
his danger lie. He has the faculty of
language, as phrenoligists would say,
and would have made a good editor or
a good congressional DICTATOR, if he had
been educated for either profession.
But he has not. He has grown up in
obscurity, he has had no public ex.
perience, and is exceedingly vulnerable.
But the very talents which should be
his strongest points he is weakest in.
Millions Of people will he watching him,
and not only watching him with inter-
est, but with deadly criticism. Let the
Republican reporters but once catch
him on the hip, and they'll feed fat the
grudge they bear him for his conduct
towards the soldiers and pensioners"
These are the sentiments of all the
leading Republicans with whom l have
conversed within the past week. The
Democrats, however, affect to believe
that Cleveland will make no mistake.
They who understand the magnitude CT
the undertaking, the great danger OF
the long circle of travel and speech.
making he has to go through with, will
not look upon the trip with ease, but
with fear and trembling. Gen. Leo
Knott, of Maryland, says POSTMASTER
General Villas will accompany the pres
speaker, and will cover whatever de
fects the president may develope.'
But Gen. Knott is mistaken. No mat.
ter how brilliantly and powerful Villas
may speak 1t will be impossible for him,
1t would be impossible for a Clay or a
Webster, to cover up the errors of an
aspiring president. The people may
applaud Villas, but they will not in the
applaud forget the errors made by a
man who is after q second term OF
office.
Col. Zach Thomas, of Iowa, makes an
observation about this trip of the presi-
dents, which is more sapine than all OF
| of the truth which has been uttered by
more prominent men. He says "The
Democratic campaign committee
worked up this boom with oomsummate
skill; They tried3to capture the soldiers
in their G. AFR. encampment, but
failing III that, they proceeded to cap.
ture the entirqwest and northwest for
Grover. Republicans have fallen into
the trap aQd are uniting with Demo.
Gratis in sending invitations to the presi-
dent, and i'll Of these things assist in
booming 4tm a second term. The Re.
publicany who haYe Joined in petitions
to Cleveland to visit their towns, have
been playing into the hands of the
shrewd campaign committee of the
Democratic party. Kansas City, Chat
tanooga, Saint Paul, Minneapolis and
other cities have thus been roped in"
Fact.
No less than fifty Democratic clerks
left this city to go to Baltimore and take
part in the recent Democratic state con-
vention. Had they been Republicans
thus neglecting their duty, it would haye
taken but a stroke of the pen of Gen.
Black. commissioners of pensions, from
whose office most of them went, to de-
clare them guilty of ''pernicious politi-
cal activity" Being Democrats, how
ever, they are merely recorded as hav-
ing been absent on leave, W furlough,
for one day, or two days and that is
all there is Of it. Reform moves in a
mysterious way, its wonders to perform.
Villas is booming himself for the vice.
presidency in a novel manner. He has
impressed upon his subordinates, even
upon his assistant postmaster general,
that it is their mission to boom HIM :
and they are doing 1t. Whenever a
piece of news is given out by any Of the
s%uhordinates, they say: "The postmas.
ter general desires that you be given
this item, and he said"-. Formerly,
when the administration was new, and
had no corns on Its feet, it was the GUS
tom to ignore newspaper men, and snub